My timetable has been such that I have 3 whole days this half term with no teaching hours in the day. Rather than use this time to set up for the new academic year (new schemes mainly!) I decided it would be far more developmental to go and see an academy of the type we're becoming.
In September, we're due to become an LAET, a London branch of the Academies Enterprise Trust. Our sponsor is the LDA, and the Mayoral office - Boris Johnson's baby! It's been a little difficult to set up (in teaching you are always dealing with people who are often non-contactable due to being in the classroom most of the time!) but after an emergency phone call with me asking if I could visit an Academy THE NEXT DAY (!), I finally went on a visit.
The school itself was quite far away, in a very different part of town! The intake was completely different to ours, and their buildings looked old and dated. However, the meeting indeed was developmental. I realised just how far we had come as a school already under the guidance of our headteacher and how much we already do regarding AET expectations.
It has made me really positive regarding our future under the AET and I know that I, for one, will be embracing the change whole-heartedly.
